Charles Evans Hughes

“ It was the contention of the government that, by reason of the withdrawal by executive order for forestry purposes prior to the acceptance of the survey by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, the title to the lands did not pass to the state under the school grant. ”

“ Her people were not interested in getting the identical sections 16 and 36 in every township. Indeed, it could not be known until after a survey where they would fall, and a grant of quantity put her in as good a condition as the other states which had received the benefit of this bounty. A grant, operating at once, and attaching prior to the surveys by the United States, would deprive Congress of the power of disposing of any part of the lands in Nevada, until they were segregated from those granted. ”

“ The provision for forest reservations refers to any part of the public lands which were subject to the disposition of Congress. It is also argued that the state, under the act of February 28, 1891 (supra) , has the right to await the 'extinguishment' of the 'reservation,' and the 'restoration of the lands therein embraced to the public domain,' and then to take the described sections. ”

“ In defense, he claimed title under a Spanish grant. This had been rejected by the Board of Commissioners in 1811, and it appeared that the United States had full power of disposition at the time of the donation to the state. Referring to the provision for the grant of equivalent lands, to take the place of those 'sold or otherwise disposed of,' the court said: 'Sale, necessarily signifying a legal sale by a competent authority, is a disposition, final and irrevocable, of the land. ”

“ In 1850, Congress created the office of surveyor general of the public lands in Oregon, and provided for survey and for donations to settlers (act of September 27, 1850, chap. 76, 9 Stat. at L. 496) , and this act provided (§ 9) : 'That no claim to a donation right . . . upon sections sixteen or thirty-six, shall be valid or allowed, if the residence and cultivation upon which the same is founded shall have commenced after the survey of the same.' By the act of February 19, 1851, chap. ”

“ In establishing and enlarging the Cascade Range Forest Reserve, the President acted under the express authority conferred by the acts of March 3, 1891, chap. 561, § 24 (26 Stat. at L. 1095, 1103, Comp. Stat. 1913, §§ 5116, 5121) , and June 4, 1897, chap. 2 (30 Stat. at L. 11, 36) . The power to establish the permanent reservation included the power to make temporary withdrawals (United States v. Midwest Oil Co. 236 U.S. 459, 476, 59 L. ed. 673, 682, 35 Sup. Ct. Rep. 309) ; and the order of the Secretary of the Interior, made on December 16, 1905, must be regarded as the act of the President. ”

“ Indiana (3 Stat. at L. 290, chap. 57) ; Mississippi (2 Stat. at L. 234, chap. 27, 10 Stat. at L. 6, chap. 35) ; Illinois (3 Stat. at L. 430, chap. 67) ; Alabama (3 Stat. at L. 491, chap. 47) ; Missouri (3 Stat. at L. 547, chap. 22, Comp. Stat. 1913, § 6799 (42) ) ”